Differential gear



Aug. 7, 1928. 1,680,134

R. L. DENNISON DIFFERENTIAL GEAR Original Filed Dec. 22, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet l ghvum l r01, 1?. L, [Jamal Ion Patented Augr'i', 1 928. i i ear-r se earner ori ice,

ROBERT I; Eli 'N b t LQ'F NEW i o K, N Y.

DIFFERENTIAL GEAR.

Application filed Qecember 22, 1924;8eria1 No. 757,546. Renewed November 15, 1926.

This invention relates to gearing, and drive shaft" is provided with a pinion 7 on more particularly todifierential gears. its rear-end, meshing with a gear 8. 'The An object of the invention is toprovide gear 8 is secured to a main driven member 9 a differential gearing embodying a main by meansot bolts 10, or other suitable fasdrive inember'v'vhich is provided with a pluteni-ng elements. As shown, the main 5 rality of recesses to receive'pinions by means driven member 9 is of substantial size and of which the gears 'on the axle sections are iszcylindrically shaped with its longitudinal driven, which pinions are provided withreaxes extending transversely of the gear duced end portions passing through reduced housing. The rear axle oi the vehicleis openings in the main driven IIIGIIIbBf' fOI'lD- formed in two sections 11 and 12, which ing relatively long bearings for. each rot ",extend through a central openingl-3 in the 40; Figure 5 1 the pinions and thus preventing excessive main driven member and one of which is wear. w i provided with a reduced extension 14 on its A further object of the invention is the inner end, adapted to be received in an openprovision of mechanically operated means ing in the other section. The sides of the 15 for locking the diiferential: gearing when diilerential housing are, provided with suitdesired. s P able bearings 15 for thereception of the A further object of the invention is the axle sections. it will thus be apparent that provision of locking means which will authe driven member is supported by the axle 5 tomatieally release when the pressure of the sections which are in turn supported by-the 20 foot is removed from the operating pedal, bearings 15. thereby preventing the-locking mechanism shown, the axle sections are provided from being accidentally applied or from with gears or pinions16, adjacent their inbeing-left position through :Eorgetfulness. ner ends, which are received in the central A furtherobject is to provide a durable recess 13 of the driven member and which differential gear which. wear isu=reduced are of substantially the same diameter as to a minimum, i v said recess. Centrally'of the driven mem- In the accompanying drawings, I have her, the recess 13 is reduced in cross section, shown oneembod-iinent of the invention. as at 17, and a bushing 18 is arranged in In this showing: 7 i, a i this reduced portion. Similarly, the inner Figure 1 is a plan view with the upper ends of the axle sections are reduced inhalf of the differential gear housing recross section, as at 19, to snugly fit within moved, parts being shown in section, 1 the bushing or bearing 18.- t

Figure 2ris a vertical sectional view on Adjacent each side, the main driven memline 22 of Figure 1, showing the locking her is provided with a plurality of cylindri- 35 mechanism in operative position, j V cal recesses 20, the centers of which are Figure3 is a similar view on line ti -30f: equally spaced from the center of the main 'Figure 1, f shaftor axle. These recesses are disposed a Figure a' -isa similar NlBW on line H of around the periphery of the main central l Figure 1,'and, r v j -recess 13. These cylindrical recesses extend 's a plan view of a portion of from each side of the driven member to the the axle sections showinga pair of the drivopposite end of the reduced portion 17 of the ing pinions. A p i central passage and are arrangedalternately "Referring to the drawings, thereference onopposite sidesof the driven member. Ex-

numeral '1 l designates generallya diiferentending from each ofthe cylindricalrecesses 4 tial housing whichfmaybe formed in jtwo 20, and'concentric therewith, is a reduced sections, having abutting flanges 2 These recess 01' passage 21 adapted to receive a flanges are provided with suitable openings bearing liner or' bushing 22. As shown, the

3 for the reception of bolts4 or other suitbushing projects beyond the end of the V able fastening elements. The housing is recess. Pinions 24am arranged in the con- 50 suitably shaped to receive' the differentialcentri'c recesses 20 and these pinions extend gear. At the front cit-the housingveachlof' into themain central recess 13 and mesh 7 the sections is provided with a recess, formwith-the pinions 1 6'carried "by'the axle secing an opening for the'reception'of a bushtions. The pinions'are providedwith rein h orbearing member throughwhich the duced shafts 25, which fit snuglywithin the drive shaft 6: eiltheayehicle" extends. -'l11is bushings or bearing liners 22. As shown,

7 elements 2 (see Figure 5), one set of pinions 24m'esh with the gears or 'pinions 16 on one section of the axle and the other set mesh with the M gears or pinion on the other section'of'the axle. Side plates 26 are secured-to the main driven member by suitable fastening ders 28, formed. on the axle sections to prevent outward displacen'ient ofthe axle sections As shown, the side plates are provided with openings l adapted to receive shafts 'ca-rriedby the driving pinions 24,

and the bushings22. extend throughthes'e.

' openings. On the opposite side, the pinions arefprovided with stub shafts 29,-exte'nding through openings inthe SlClG plate and suitable bushings-30 are arranged around these stub shafts.

v; .I.Suitable means are provided for locking the differential mechanism to prevent independent rotation of the two sections of the I axle. QAS shown, the set of shafts 25 from one set of pinions arelonger than the other "set, and project beyond the stub shafts 29 7 .(see Figure 5). These extended portions are adapted to recelve star wheels 31, which are secured thereto by means of pins 32 and normallyrevolvewith the shafts and pinions. 'When'the mechanism is"functio'ning, asa difierent1al,;1the star wheels are free torevolve'. Asleeve 33 surroundsa portion :of one of the axle sections and this sleeve 7 is provided with a beveled face 34 (see Fig- 'ure 1) adapted to enter beneath thestar wheels, as shown in Figure 2 of the drawangs, andlock them againstrotation. The

. disposed pin orshaft 36. [inner-ends of the arms'are openings 37, adapted to receive pins 38 ,car ri ed by the collar, the entire device funcsleeve 33 is providedwith an annular groove 33" adapted to receive' a split collar 34: This. collar is adapted to be moved transversely of the differential housing by means ofa pair of arms 35, mounted ona vertically {,tioning as a yoke, Aspring 39 surrounds the'pi'ni36, and one end of this spring is anchored in the differential casing, asattO. Obviously,-movement of the collar 34 is, adapted to slide the sleeve 33 on the shaft 11.

Inpperation, the shaftfi is-driven from axle-sections and is provided with alb'ear ing member 18. -By supporting the axle -sectionsin thismannerat their inner'enjds,

;; a a more durable 'C'OnSlZ-I'HCtlOII 1s='obtained. "The plnlons 24 travel around the center of These side plates engage shoul- As shown, the 1 provided with the? and cause the pinions'flti. to rotate on their own axes. As the pinions 24 are normally free to revolve, the differential function isperformed in the usual-manner.

Heretofore, these'pinionshave been mounted in bearings in theside plates 26' and slight wearqof thecpinions will causathem to get out of alinement and thus increase the wear onthe drivingpinion 24 and thedrivenipinion 1.6; Particular attention'iscalled"to the factthat'the pinions 24are arranged in the recesses 20 and are provided with relatively supported in'the-side' plates as shown, and are thusprovided with-bearings at'each end, and the; total length of the bearingportion is substantiallyaequal to; the length of the gear; a p V V The gears may be locked at anytime by inerely rotatingitheshaft- 36 to-Qcause the bevel faced sleeve 3.3 to loekthe star wheels ential mechanism to be locked before ap- PTOZLChIII a sltuatlon 1n-wh1ch ;Sa1(llOCk1IIg is desirable; For instance, 1n approachmg dong stub shafts gs 'whiehiare snugly re- -ceived1.11='the bushings 22, arranged ln'the recessesz21m The 1311110118, .in addition, are,

.31 against rotation; This permitsthe difter- -.a bad'stretch of road, thedifi'erential may be locked prior to reaching the :bad stretch of. road. and: thus prevent the ..vehic le. from beingjstuck a mud'hol'e instead. of. waiting until-thevehiclelbecomes; stuck andthen locking thediflierential; ltc has'heretofore been proposedtoautomatically lock a diffen' ential gear when one of the wheelsrof the 7 vehicle begins to spin,.but in such constructions, itfis necessary. that the trouble beencountered before the mechanism functions as soon as the pressure. is riemovedfrom-the operating pedal, the. star iishaped wheels, tending to revolve at all; times, force the sleeve 33 toan inoperative 'position due to its beveled iface and it :is, thus, impossible, to

vleavejthe locking mechanism, in operative position "throughforgetfulness. p i 1 *When: the: locking mechanism is 1 brought zFurther-attention-is called to the fact that into operative position, a, small amountl'of play is still permitted-between "it. and the i Y Y star shaped wheels 31, which permits turning the wheelsof'the vehicle a slight amount in either "directions. If desired, the operating pedalmay: be'placed adj acent the foot. pedal by means ofwhich the bra-keiof the motorfvehicle is operated topermitthe; operator to loclc the differential at the same :time that the brakeis applied, thusVse-rvin'g as a brake equalizer andfremovingsthe tendency to skid if :the brakes arelout of adjustment. C

i It is "to be understood-that the formof my 1 invention herewith" shown and "describedv is to-"be taken asapreferred:example of the V site, and garrangementdof {parts 1 may-be resame-and thatfva-rious changesin the" sorted to without departingfromthespirit of the invention or the scope of the sub joined claims. i i e I claim:

1. In a differential gear,"a main driven member, a'pair of sets of pinions carried by said member, axle sections arrangedadja cent said main driven member, each of said axle sections being provided Withfa pinion meshing with one of said sets of pinions, one of said sets of pinions being provided With 'stub shafts extending therefrom, star shaped members mounted on the ends of said stub shafts, and a tapered sleeve loosely mounted on one of said axle sections and adapted to slide to a position Within said star shaped members to contact therewith and prevent rotation thereof.

2. In a differential gear, a main driven member, a pair of sets of pinions mounted in said member, each of said pinions meshing With one pinion of the other set, axle sections arranged adjacent said driven member, each of said axle sections being provided. with a pinion meshing with one of said sets of pinions the pinions of one set being provided with stub shafts extending from said driven member, star shaped members mounted on the ends of said stub shafts, and a tapered sleeve loosely mounted on said axle and adapted to Within said star shaped members to contact therewith and prevent rotation thereof.

In testimonygwhereof, I aflix my signature.

OBERI L. DENNISON.

slide thereon to a position 

